‘NOTHING NEW’: Obama’s Strange PMS Response to Netanyahu’s Speech

To all those who imagined President Obama would not let Iran keep its illegal nuclear program and then get a green flag for breakout after 10 years, you were wrong. Yes, Obama actually is capitulating entirely after years of saying that negotiations would make clear Iran had to give up its nuclear ambitions. It was his argument that Iran wanted to be included in the family of nations, and later (after he opposed sanctions) his argument was that sanctions had forced Iran to the table. But now he concedes all that was wrong.

In his very odd response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, Obama did not dispute he is making these huge concessions and he did not argue they are wise. Instead, he argued Netanyahu said nothing new (well, Obama knew he had bargained away an awful lot, but many Americans did not, which is why Obama had to put it out there in an interview on the eve of Netanyahu’s speech). And Obama groused that Netanyahu did not provide an alternative.

Let’s take the latter argument. There is a whole list of problems with the president’s complaint.

First, the speech did contain an alternative: Hold firm and increase sanctions. Many have said Netanyahu is insisting on regime change. But that is not correct. He’s demanding that Iran change its behavior, just as Obama was supposed to be demanding that Iran give up its quest for nuclear weapons. Maybe the president should say exactly what he promised: If no deal was reached, he’d be the first one back asking for more sanctions.

Second, since when does a president demand that an ally, whom he has ignored and who has found the fatal flaw in his negotiations (the details of which Obama has tried to conceal), come up with a solution to get him out of his mess? Some chutzpah. If the deal is bad, Obama has said no deal is better. What was his alternative supposed to be if no deal was the better course of action?